ocular rewritten

I have seen a couple of projects throughout Scratch over time which take immense amounts of work from others. The user who makes one of these projects may or may not give credit. If they do, typically it is just “thanks to @example for a custom block,” when in reality they may have taken an entire 3D rendering engine from some random user who had a couple hundred projects. Often times, I tell them something like “give proper credit to @username please, preferably with a project link.” They either delete my comment or they give very minimal credit and call it good. I usually then report the project for breaking community guidelines because technically, the user is being dishonest/tricking the community. A good amount of times, the projects do not get changed at all. These types of projects usually start out pretty small. Then, because they are not taken down, they quickly grow massive and the user gets some “fame.” Just as quickly, people start picking up on the fact that the user is trying to take code to get “famous” and get away with it. This often causes massive drama where others start accusing the user for copying code or getting fame off of other's work. This leads to avalanches of reports which causes the system to automatically take down the project for review(I think it is how it works? Correct me if I'm wrong please). A good amount of the time either the project is reviewed and put back up or the user just simply shares a different project with the same work and this often causes an outrage where people start fighting and tell others to hate on the user. At this point, the user might stop and maybe delete their projects/their account, or the Scratch Team takes down the project for good. However, sometimes, the user is just too persistent. I just don't like how this phenomenon affects the community and I'm pretty sure the Scratch Team doesn't want to deal with a flood of reports(That is what some scratchers told me about the affects of mass reporting. I have no clue how it works). My first question is, have any of you, reading this right now, noticed this? What do you think about it? Also, in the case of a user using someone else's work to be “famous,” if everyone is so mad, shouldn't their project be immediately taken down? Shouldn't their account be banned at least temporarily? I also want to ask, if a user takes so much work, how should they credit the original user who made the work? Should they just say, “thanks to @example for some cool rendering code?” I have noticed that this does not help the user calm down the community at all(in the case of an outrage) and it only serves to make their project harder to take down. Should they instead say, "Thanks to @example for most of the code: ,“ or perhaps should these types of projects just get taken down for ”being an exact copy of another's.“ What does a project ”being an exact copy" mean? What if they copied an entire front-paged or formerly front-paged project and changed something miniscule that was completely unimportant? Could that be reported as an exact copy? My final questions are, at what point is a project and exact copy? How much credit should one give? What should the credit look like? How can Scratch, both the Scratch Team and the Scratch community, prevent outrages like I described from happening?

Wow I typed a bit too much did I(hopefully someone does not copy my post and claim it as theirs XD)? ._.

You have a lot of questions packed in. I'll try and answer them individually.

My first question is, have any of you, reading this right now, noticed this?
I have noticed it quite a lot, especially to my projects. I am somwehat well known (2000 followers, over 550,000 total views) which has meant that my projects have been the target to a lot of copying, especially because the projects I make attract that kind of behaviour. I have a bit of experience with this.
What do I think about it? I do find it is a problem in Scratch and it certainly isn't nice to be copying projects, but there's not much I can do about it. I used to try and ask the users in a comment to add my credit because not doing so is against the rules. The reason I said used to is because this almost never works. Some just refuse (believing that they are actually not breaking the rules because they don't understand them truly), others make promises that they never fulfil. In fact, I know right now one of my projects still has a copy which hasn't been dealt with and I am still waiting for the user to give credit.
I now just go straight to reporting projects, but even then, the response doesn't tend to work. I usually see the projects get reshared or not removed at all. I don't know why as I am not part of the Scratch Team, so I can't give any reasons to this.
My only solution (and I recommend others do the same) is to prevent or reduce the copying in the first place. I embed my username in to almost anything inside my projects. Comments scattered around, blocks with my username, sprites, costumes, and backdrops named as me. That way, it is very obvious that they are mine as it is really hard to remove all traces of my name. I even go and create bitmap costumes with my username. That way, it can't be deleted out of a costume.
I don't really bother that much with removing all copies. I find it is a case-by-case basis and I kind of just let some do it anyway. Something related to this is remixes without changes. Yes this is against the rules but I don't bother enforcing it because firstly, there are hundreds of them for just my projects, and secondly, I actually get something out of it - a free archive of my project in its previous state.

In the case of a user using someone else's work to be “famous,” if everyone is so mad, shouldn't their project be immediately taken down? Shouldn't their account be banned at least temporarily?
Projects can get automatically taken down if enough people report the project at the same time (“mass-reporting”). I think for banning, the Scratch Team has to make that decision. It can happen if the user is just putting out copy after copy, but if it is just one instance of a copy, I don't think a ban will result.

I also want to ask, if a user takes so much work, how should they credit the original user who made the work? Should they just say, “thanks to @example for some cool rendering code?” I have noticed that this does not help the user calm down the community at all(in the case of an outrage) and it only serves to make their project harder to take down. Should they instead say, "Thanks to @example for most of the code: ,“ or perhaps should these types of projects just get taken down for ”being an exact copy of another's.“
The best practice for crediting would to be giving all the details - what was copied, the user, and the project URL. Though, giving just the project URL or just the username is still fine.

What does a project ”being an exact copy" mean? What if they copied an entire front-paged or formerly front-paged project and changed something miniscule that was completely unimportant? Could that be reported as an exact copy? My final questions are, at what point is a project and exact copy?
If the project doesn't change anything significant enough that someone would be able to see the difference, then it is an exact copy. There must be a noticable change. Changing something that has no impact is still going to make the project an exact copy (or close enough that it is counted - no one will be able to notice it)

How can Scratch, both the Scratch Team and the Scratch community, prevent outrages like I described from happening?
I can't say much about this. Scratch is a place that makes copying really easy. There is the combination of a younger age group, the ability to see inside projects and copy them, an incentive to make copies (you can become famous!), and the limited ability of the Scratch Team (there are only so many moderators and Scratch has grown really big).

awesome-llama-test wrote:

Projects can get automatically taken down if enough people report the project at the same time (“mass-reporting”). I think for banning, the Scratch Team has to make that decision. It can happen if the user is just putting out copy after copy, but if it is just one instance of a copy, I don't think a ban will result.

Mass reporting results in a very short temporary ban, but that isn't really a punishment, just a way to stop the user if they're doing something really bad.

Alright, this also happened to me! I am just a normal 11 year old whos just trying to work on a big project and i posted it while its not finished to let people play it. And this person just copied it, said it was all his, and claimed i was copying him! ive stayed up late last night trying to report him, comment on his project to please delete it, and not take all the credit! and on my project he also insulted me without any reason! I'm just trying to be patient and tell him to delete his project. On my project, i specifically said that please do not remix this or it will be reported. Like… Hello? does he know what dates are? People can just look at the dates when mine was posted, my project was posted 2 WEEKS before! I really need help. And plus he remixed mine, saying i copied him when, HELLO?????? HIS ACCOUT WAS CREATED 4 HOURS AGO LAST NIGHT!!!! AND HE ALSO REMIXED MY PROJECT FIRST THING WHEN HE CREATED HIS ACCOUNT!!!! LIKE, HELLO????? how in the world does someone code a game that has 2.1k blocks of coding in it???? and i just need help. his user is: Sigma_SKIBIDI21

i know. im not joking its his user. Thank you to the people whove read this.

really_get_the_milk wrote:

-big post-

don’t name and shame
if they claim something is theirs but its not
use report and give evidence
plus you said don’t remix on your project which is a violation of 4th paragraph of CGs

Scratch Cgs wrote:

Embrace remix culture.
Remixing is when you build upon someone else’s projects, code, ideas, images, or anything else they share on Scratch to make your own unique creation.
Remixing is a great way to collaborate and connect with other Scratchers. You are encouraged to use anything you find on Scratch in your own creations, as long as you provide credit to everyone whose work you used and make a meaningful change to it. And when you share something on Scratch, you are giving permission to all Scratchers to use your work in their creations, too.

gdfsgdfsgdfg wrote:

really_get_the_milk wrote:

-big post-

don’t name and shame
if they claim something is theirs but its not
use report and give evidence
plus you said don’t remix on your project which is a violation of 4th paragraph of CGs

Scratch Cgs wrote:

Embrace remix culture.
Remixing is when you build upon someone else’s projects, code, ideas, images, or anything else they share on Scratch to make your own unique creation.
Remixing is a great way to collaborate and connect with other Scratchers. You are encouraged to use anything you find on Scratch in your own creations, as long as you provide credit to everyone whose work you used and make a meaningful change to it. And when you share something on Scratch, you are giving permission to all Scratchers to use your work in their creations, too.

when you forgo it was a necropost:

among_us1w2 wrote:

when you forgo it was a necropost:
-gif-

normally I respond to necroposts like normal posts cuz
saying its a necropost to me is cruel to OP
plus I just want to help them

Condensed version for people who ain’t reading allat.

My best friend, ChatGPT wrote:

I've noticed on Scratch that some users take extensive work from others without proper credit. When I ask for proper credit, they often give minimal acknowledgment or delete my comment. This behavior leads to drama, with accusations of copying and reports. Sometimes the projects are taken down, but the issue persists. I think this affects the community negatively. Shouldn't projects be taken down immediately if they're using others' work to gain fame? How should proper credit be given to avoid these problems? What defines an exact copy, and how can Scratch prevent such issues?